Have Fitness Questions?
Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert
Q. Dear Fitz, I need to lose only five pounds and want to rev up my walking program in the hope that I can lose these last few pounds. I wear wrist weights thinking this will boost my metabolism. Do you have any suggestions on how to make a walking program more intense? I have heard about walking poles but I'm not sure this is the answer and I think I would feel silly using them on the city streets -- thinking I would look "strange." So if you have any suggestions as to how to put more OOMPH in my walking to lose these few pounds, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. Thanks. Judith
A. Hey Judith. Love your ambition, and I'm so glad you asked the question. First of all, I do not ever recommend using wrist weights while walking. Adding weight to your wrists will only adding strain to the elbow and shoulder joints as you swing your arms back and forth. Plus they really serve no great benefit to you anyway. Small weights wouldn't amp up your calorie burn significantly and if you want to build the muscles in your arms you'd be much better off just doing specific strength training exercises for your arms!
In order to challenge yourself while walking you can do several things. Walk faster. Walk at an incline. If you don't have hills in your city, find some stairs or use a treadmill on occasion. Adding weighted resistance can be a great idea, but the wrist or ankle weights are definite no-no's. Instead you can look in to a weighted vest. This type of resistance is well-balanced, and will not strain your joints. Weighted vests can make things more challenging as you can carry significant weight this way. You can use a vest with anywhere from 10-40 pounds, and increase the weight as you progress. The benefit of using an actual fitness vest instead of a backpack full of books is that the weight is distributed evenly across your chest, ribs and back.
As far as looking funny goes,forget about it Judith! I think for the most part, when we see others exercising we're more envious and impressed than anything else. If you're working toward better health, you'll always be cool and that's a fact. Click here to check out the weighted vests. Let me know when your five pounds disappear! Fitz
A. Hey Judith. Love your ambition, and I'm so glad you asked the question. First of all, I do not ever recommend using wrist weights while walking. Adding weight to your wrists will only adding strain to the elbow and shoulder joints as you swing your arms back and forth. Plus they really serve no great benefit to you anyway. Small weights wouldn't amp up your calorie burn significantly and if you want to build the muscles in your arms you'd be much better off just doing specific strength training exercises for your arms!
In order to challenge yourself while walking you can do several things. Walk faster. Walk at an incline. If you don't have hills in your city, find some stairs or use a treadmill on occasion. Adding weighted resistance can be a great idea, but the wrist or ankle weights are definite no-no's. Instead you can look in to a weighted vest. This type of resistance is well-balanced, and will not strain your joints. Weighted vests can make things more challenging as you can carry significant weight this way. You can use a vest with anywhere from 10-40 pounds, and increase the weight as you progress. The benefit of using an actual fitness vest instead of a backpack full of books is that the weight is distributed evenly across your chest, ribs and back.
As far as looking funny goes,forget about it Judith! I think for the most part, when we see others exercising we're more envious and impressed than anything else. If you're working toward better health, you'll always be cool and that's a fact. Click here to check out the weighted vests. Let me know when your five pounds disappear! Fitz
